Japan Industrial Production Falls Less Than Estimated

(RTTNews) - Japan's industrial output decreased slightly less than initially estimated at the end of the first quarter, final data from the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry showed on Tuesday.

Industrial production dropped 0.4 percent monthly in March, slower than the 2.0 percent fall in February. In the flash estimate, the rate of decrease was 0.5 percent.

Shipments fell 0.9 percent monthly in March, and inventories and inventory ratios declined by 1.8 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively.

On a yearly basis, industrial production rose 2.4 percent after a 0.4 percent increase in the previous month.

Data also showed that the capacity utilization rate dropped 1.2 percent monthly in March versus a 0.1 percent fall in February.